Here’s Why You Should Think Twice Before Sending an Unwanted Dick Pic

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: it is not a good idea to send a lady unsolicited dick pics. There are many reasons for this, chief among them being that it’s totally ineffective: if you send a woman a photo of your dick when she hasn’t asked for it first, she will either a) be outraged or b) immediately text it to 7 or 8 of her closest friends, who will immediately start mocking your penis.

That said, if you are ever gripped by the uncontrollable urge to drink a ton of Jim Beam, put on a Joni Mitchell record, and whip out your member for an impromptu solo photo shoot, here’s yet another reason why you shouldn’t. A Swedish developer has created an app called Dick Pic Locator, which uses GPS technology to reveal where the dick pic sender is located, so that anonymous crotch shot you’re thinking of sending isn’t as anonymous as you’d think.

According to the Swedish website the Local, Dick Pic Locator was developed by Per Axbom, who was inspired by the feminist Instagram account Assholes Online, which outs men who send verbally abusive messages and unsolicited dick pics. The app detects the GPS coordinates of the person who sent the photo, and so far, it’s been used more than 6000 times, according to Axbom’s data. Once the woman who receives the dick pic has determined the location and identity of the sender, what she does from there is totally up to her (Axbom suggests forwarding the dick pic to the sender’s family as a way to shame him.)

Because Dick Pic Locator has no way of determining which uploaded photos are dick pics and which ones aren’t, there are obvious privacy issues associated with the website. But it’s also true that men sending women unwanted NSFW photos is a really, really big problem. According to a survey by Match.com that polled 5,500 single men and women, more than 50% of women have received an unwanted dick pic, while the same number of men have admitted to sending them. That’s an awful lot of dudes walking around with the misguided belief that women desperately want to see their wormlike, flaccid members (spoiler alert: we do not).

backwash surfer@rachelmillman

it is very important for all of you to know that if you send me your penis I will likely make fun of it and send it people on the internet

It’s not just that women are grossed out by unwanted dick pics (although trust me, we are) — it’s that they essentially constitute a form of sexual harassment. When you send a woman a photo of your dick without her explicitly asking for it, you are telling her that your boner (or lack thereof, depending on the photo) is more important than her sense of comfort and safety — and considering that more than 76% of women under 30 say they have faced some form of digital sexual harassment, that is not only profoundly irritating, it’s scary.

That’s not to say that all dick pics are created equal. When a woman specifically asks for a photo of your penis, sending a dick pic can be fun and sexy and awesome (it’s also an excellent opportunity to dip into the makeup aisle at CVS for some foundation if you have penis discoloration— and yes, this is a thing that people do). But the first part of that sentence is key — otherwise, thanks to services like Dick Pic Locator, you could end up like these poor dudes, who made the mistake of DM’ing a model photos of their junk on Instagram and ended up being outed to their moms and girlfriends. No one wants to have that conversation at Thanksgiving dinner.